Sunday, January 29, 2006

Bracket ExplanationWith it being the start of February and with most schools about half way done with their conference schedules we started to look ahead at schools upcoming schedules and at how they have performed lately. With that being said...

Cal got a bid this week because of the win they picked up over Washington and because of their remaining schedule. They have 9 games left in conference and 5 of them are at home. Out of their 4 road games remaining the toughest one is at Washington. Their RPI is still weak but it will continue to climb. They currently sit at 6-3 in conference and have a great shot to get to at least 11-7.

Iowa State was our last team in. They have really struggled lately, especially at home, and will need to start winning again if they want to stay in. Their early season wins over UNI and Iowa won't be enough to keep them in if can't pick up some W's, but they do still have a good shot at getting to 9-7 in conference which should be enough.

We gave San Diego State the automatic bid out of the MWC because of how well they have been playing lately, and we think they have what it takes to win the conference tourney. Air Force picked up a big win this week at UNLV to take sole position of second place and if they can stay there and get to 12 wins in conference then they have a good chance of picking up an at-large bid.

Cincinnati was left out because they have lost 5 of 6 and have not been the same since Kirkland went down(they weren't even competitive in their two losses this week). They have a brutal Big East schedule left and it will be nearly impossible for them to get to 8-8 in conference with their lack of size and depth.

We still don't think the Colonial conference will be able to get two bids, so we left ODU out this week and gave George Mason the automatic bid. The top of that conference is just going to beat up on each other too much down the stretch and no one has an strong enough out of conference resume to warrant an at-large bid.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Kansas 95, Iowa State 85Looks like Kansas is bracket worthy. Can you say the same right now for the Cyclones, who can't seem to win two in a row? This was a bad one at home.Xavier 60, Dayton 55Musketeers stop the bleeding with a win at home.

Georgetown 76, Cincinnati 57That's four losses in five games for the Bearcats. Will their early-season wins keep them in the bracket next week?

North Carolina 86, Arizona 69The Tar Heels needed this one, and got it. That's seven losses for Arizona, which hits the road for two critical games next week.

Rutgers 65, Louisville 56OK, we officially dropped the ball on Louisville. Getting to 8-8 in conference is looking pretty impossible.

George Mason 66, Old Dominion 47ODU has been in the bracket all year...until now.

Temple 91, Maryland 85Welcome to the bubble, Owls.

Michigan 85, Wisconsin 76Heck of a week for the Wolverines. What's gotten into Wisconsin lately?

San Diego State 78, Wyoming 77Dramatic last second three-point play keeps the red-hot Aztecs atop the MWC.

Villanova 72, Notre Dame 70This one would have been huge for the Irish. Will ND make the Big East tourney?

Why do you have so much faith still in Nevada winning the conference tournament after a 3-3 conference start and a loss Monday at home against Utah State? We won't even touch the fact that you have them as an 8 seed.

How is Xavier a 6 seed and Kentucky a 7 seed? It must be Kentucky's three-game winning streak against Georgia, South Carolina and Auburn.

How is Virginia in over a Florida State team that beat them in Virginia?

How is Kansas State in over Iowa State? We know that Kansas State was a game ahead of them in conference, but Iowa State has much better wins, including a win over...Kansas State.

Michael Lazarus (Fox Sports - Wednesday post)Are you taking Yoni Cohen's place after his abortion of a bracket last week?

How is Syracuse a 5 seed after three straight blowout losses?

How do you pick UNLV out of the MWC and Louisiana Tech out of the WAC? UNLV already lost to San Diego State, and they look even worse now after a home loss to Air Force Wednesday (after your post). In the WAC, Utah State beat Louisiana Tech, and after Utah State's win at Nevada, they look like the obvious choice for a tourney bid.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Michigan State 85, Iowa 55Spartans are back to their winning ways as they finish up a brutal stretch in their schedule.

Kentucky 80, South Carolina 78Way too close for the Wildcats at home against cellar dwellers.

North Dakota State 62, Wisconsin 55Yes, NDSU is a D-1 program. They are the Bison and their biggest rivals are fellow independents Utah Valley State and South Dakota State. Anybody out there watch or go to this game? If so, please let us know how on earth Wisconsin lost.

Georgetown 87, Duke 84Very exciting game to watch. Huge win for Georgetown, they'll go from out to a decent seed. Good rush too.

Texas A&M 86, Iowa State 81 OTCyclones have really struggled lately. First good win for the Aggies this year. Big 12 is a big mess; after Texas it is very weak.

N.C. Wilmington 69, George Mason 63The depth of the Colonial might end up hurting its chances at two bids. The top teams in the conference are going to lose too many games in conference.

LSU 68, Alabama 57Tough early season schedule is really paying off for LSU in conference. They look like they may walk away with the SEC West.

West Virginia 60, UCLA 56Heck of a day for the Big East, which - thanks to wins like this - should be able to claim its rightful spot atop the conference RPI rankings very soon.

Kansas 96, Nebraska 54Good win for Kansas after their heartbreaker against Mizzou. Were the Huskers a one-game wonder against Oklahoma? Losses like this make you think so.

Colorado 80, Oklahoma State 78Bad home loss for OSU, who got some serious consideration for last week's bracket. They won't be as fortunate this week.

Georgia 72, Mississippi 65The SEC is becoming as messy the Big 12. Besides Florida, the conference is full of semi-decent teams that keep beating each other up.

N.C. State 92, Wake Forest 82That's six losses overall, four losses in five games, and a 1-4 conference mark for the Demon Deacons, who continue to be one of this season's biggest underachievers.

Villanova 80, Syracuse 65This loss for 'Cuse was probably uglier then Monday's against UConn.Tennessee 80, Florida 76And then there were none...maybe we should take back that comment about the SEC being full of semi-decent teams besides Florida.

Boston College 65, Miami(FL) 61'Canes couldn't follow up a blowout win over Clemson with a win at home over another ranked team. The losses - seven of them now - are starting to mount for Miami.

New Mexico 62, Air Force 59Air Force better start winning some conference road games, because they have company now atop the MWC.

San Diego State 88, BYU 61The Aztecs are finally living up to some of their pre-season pub.

Cincinnati 71, Rutgers 66Cinci stopped a three-game losing streak and will stay in the bracket this week thanks to this this win. They have a rough week ahead, though, as they play at Louisville and at Georgetown.

Wichita State 68, Missouri State 62The Big 12 wishes it was as good as the MVC right now.

Friday, January 20, 2006

This week's Top 10 ranks the biggest underachievers thus far this college basketball season. Some of these teams were pre-season Final Four favorites, others were ranked high in pre-season polls, and others just haven't lived up to their reputatations or the hype. As always, we welcome your comments, and we invite our readers to post their own lists. Enjoy...

Top 10 Biggest DisappointmentsMatch-ups were ranked on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale by the three voters. First place votes are in parentheses.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Southern Illinois vs. Missouri StateAlways tough to win on the road in the MVC, but the Salukis cannot afford too many losses in conference if they want a shot at an at-large bid after all their early season bad losses.

Cincinnati vs. XavierCinci is looking to stop its mid-season slide, while Xavier needs to pick up a good win for its resume.

Oregon vs Washington StateCougars hoping for a better week at home against the Oregon schools after last week's losses in LA.

Stanford vs. ArizonaTough to figure out these Wildcats, they win at both Washington schools and then lose at both Oregon schools.

Bracketology 101 has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal and on ESPN Radio affiliates across the country. The site is designed to serve as a more reliable, more accurate alternative to the Bracketology selections of other major sports websites.
Rather than predict teams based on the season ending today, or make wild predictions of the future, Bracketology 101 uses a unique "projection-prediction" method of selecting teams, giving fans a much more realistic idea of where their favorite teams stand in the eyes of the selection committee.
While other bracketologists favor conferences or teams or rely entirely on RPI rankings in making their picks, we factor in a team's resume as a whole - big wins, bad losses, in and out-of-conference wins, upcoming schedules, conference tournament sites, and each team's overall strengths and weaknesses compared to other teams on the bubble. Our "Field of 68" is updated every Monday throughout the season, with daily updates coming during Championship Week.

Join The B101 Team!

Do you want to advertise on Bracketology 101 during March Madness? Do you want to sponsor one of our upcoming daily brackets? E-mail us at bracketologyblog@yahoo.com for ad rates and details.

Follow B101 On Twitter

Bracketology 101 is now on Twitter! To follow B101 on Twitter, just click on the Twitter logo above.

How B101 Stacks Up

The numbers speak for themselves: Over the last five years, Bracketology 101 is the most accurate bracketology site on the Internet. We produced the best bracket in 2006, the second best in 2007 and 2008, and the fifth best in 2009. We are the only bracketologists to produce a Top 5 bracket four of the last five years. No other bracketologist has placed in the Top 5 more than twice. For a complete breakdown of our bracket stats from the last four years, click on the “We’re #1!” logo above.

The 40-60 Club

On top of correctly predicting 64 of the 65 tournament teams in 2008, Bracketology 101 also became the first bracketology site to ever seed 40 teams exactly and 60 teams within one seed line of their actual seed. Through 2010, we are the only bracketology site to earn this distinction.